Thirteen weeks already? Time flies. And I have to go all the way back to week 8 to find a long run where I actually felt good about the distance. Even a week before that and we were already feeling the heat -- six consecutive weeks of summer weather making the runs more difficult than they needed to be.
But I remained hopeful that all of these difficult conditions would ultimately prove to be a good thing. Get through the worst days of summer, just get the mileage in, and it'll have to feel better once things start to cool down.
Well.
Today, finally, was significantly cooler. We started in a cool, steady drizzle, and had to focus for the first three miles on slowing down the pace -- almost as if we were trying to outrun the rain. After that, though, the rain stopped, cloud cover remained, and we were able to settle into a comfortable "long, slow, distance" pace.
Two weeks ago I really struggled with the heat and humidity: 16 miles in 3 hours and 30 minutes. Last week felt a little better, running the same distance in about 3:15. Today felt as good as it has in over a month, adding one more mile but still finishing in 3:15.
And I can't believe I'd never discovered the Midtown Greenway before today! What a great combined running/biking trail! Cuts through some of my favorite lakes and ends up right next to the Mississippi River.
- 3 runs for 26 miles (long run of 17 miles)
- 1 spin class
- 3 days of rest
Total training miles since 05/12/2011: 246 miles
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